Effective tax rates: Corporate tax statistics … income average in South Africa
South Africa: Effective tax rates: Corporate tax statistics … income average was 23.57 Percentage of taxable income in 2025. ▼ Falling
Effective tax rates for income based tax incentives - Corporate tax in South Africa, 2000–2025
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Percentage of taxable income.
Analysis
In 2025, effective tax rates for income based tax incentives - corporate tax in South Africa stood at 23.57 Percentage of taxable income. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, effective tax rates for income based tax incentives - corporate tax in South Africa peaked at 26.18 Percentage of taxable income in 2000 and was at its lowest, 23.57 Percentage of taxable income, in 2022.
That places South Africa 19th out of 41 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Effective tax rates: Corporate tax statistics … income average in South Africa, year by year
| Year | Percentage of taxable income | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 26.18 Percentage of taxable income | — |
| 2001 | 26.18 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 26.18 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 26.18 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 26.18 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 25.31 Percentage of taxable income | -3.3% |
| 2006 | 25.31 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 25.31 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | -3.4% |
| 2009 | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 23.57 Percentage of taxable income | -3.6% |
| 2023 | 23.57 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 23.57 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
| 2025 | 23.57 Percentage of taxable income | +0.0% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 23.57 Percentage of taxable income is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 26.18 Percentage of taxable income, 90% of the median. (7 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 25.57 Percentage of taxable income | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | 26.18 Percentage of taxable income | 10 |
| 2010s | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | 10 |
| 2020s | 23.86 Percentage of taxable income | 23.57 Percentage of taxable income | 24.44 Percentage of taxable income | 6 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
- 16 New Zealand 24.44 Percentage of taxable income compare
- 17 Italy 24.27 Percentage of taxable income compare
- 18 Luxembourg 23.64 Percentage of taxable income compare
- 19 Chile 23.57 Percentage of taxable income compare
- 21 Greece 21.82 Percentage of taxable income compare
- 22 United Kingdom 20.95 Percentage of taxable income compare
More economy & growth data for South Africa
- Real gdp growth, annual growth rate 108.41 % change on previous year (2025)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 04 - Annual real GDP 0.4836 Percent per annum (2029)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 02 - Annual real GDP 1.4 Percent per annum (2029)
- SDRs holdings, US dollar, annual growth rate 6.87 % change on previous year (2025)
- SDRs holdings, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0.0145 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- SDRs holdings, US dollar, per capita 95.75 units per person (2025)
- SDRs holdings, SDR, annual growth rate 1.77 % change on previous year (2025)
- SDRs holdings, SDR, per unit of GDP 0.0106 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- SDRs holdings, SDR, per capita 69.91 units per person (2025)
- IMF holdings of currency, US dollar, annual growth rate -28.9 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is effective tax rates for income based tax incentives - corporate tax in South Africa?
- Effective tax rates for income based tax incentives - corporate tax in South Africa was 23.57 Percentage of taxable income in 2025, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest effective tax rates for income based tax incentives - corporate tax recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 26.18 Percentage of taxable income in 2000.
- What is the lowest effective tax rates for income based tax incentives - corporate tax recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 23.57 Percentage of taxable income in 2022.
- How does South Africa rank for effective tax rates for income based tax incentives - corporate tax?
- South Africa ranks 19th out of 41 countries with data for 2025.
- Is effective tax rates for income based tax incentives - corporate tax rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Effective tax rates for income based tax incentives - Corporate tax statistics — Effective average tax rate. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
This table reports synthetic tax policy indicators that capture the effect of income-based R&D tax incentives on firms’ investment costs: The EATR for R&D measures the impact of taxation on R&D investments that earn an economic profit. the user cost of capital for R&D measures the return that a firm needs to realise on an R&D investment before tax to offset all costs and taxes that arise from the investment, making zero economic profit. Further methodological information is available in the explanatory annex.